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понедельник, 4 августа 2014 г.

Azeri troops killed in clashes with Armenia as tensions flare

Baku (AFP) - Azerbaijan said Friday eight soldiers had been killed in three days of clashes with arch-foe Armenia on the border and near the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region as tensions spiked in the long-running conflict.

Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenian troops had ramped up their activity in the past few days and attacked Azeri positions.International mediators, who have for years sought to help the two countries reach a breakthrough, expressed concern over the violence, with the United States renewing a plea for the presidents from both countries to meet for talks.

"Reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the Armenian armed forces attempted to break through the line of contact between the troops along the entire front line," the ministry said, adding that the Armenian troops had been repelled.

"As a result of clashes over the past three days, eight Azeri troops have died," it said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a protracted conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region with occasional skirmishes along the front.

The latest clashes however represent a surge in tensions between the two countries, with one prominent Azeri military expert saying Baku has not suffered such losses in a single bout of hostilities since 1994.

Azerbaijan said Armenia had also suffered losses, although it did not provide any details.

In Armenia, a high-ranking defence ministry official presented a different version of the events.

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Speaking to AFP, he said Azerbaijani "sabotage groups" had tried to break into Armenia and that the Azeris had lost 14 troops in the latest skirmish.

"Azerbaijani subversive groups were ambushed," the official said. "As a result, they have 14 dead and lots of wounded. There are no casualties or wounded on the Armenian side."

Officials in Nagorny Karabakh for their part said two Armenian troops died in an attack by Azerbaijani forces on Thursday.

Armenian-backed separatists seized Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan in a 1990s war that killed 30,000 people.

Despite years of negotiations since a 1994 ceasefire, the two sides have yet to sign a peace deal.

- No military solution -

US officials said Washington was concerned about the escalation of violence, calling "on the sides to take immediate action to reduce tensions and respect the ceasefire."

"There can be no military solution to the conflict. Retaliation and further violence will only make it more difficult to bring about a peaceful settlement," said deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf in a statement.

She added US officials "stand ready to help efforts to bring about a lasting settlement."

Azerbaijan has threatened to take back the disputed region by force if negotiations do not yield results, while Armenia has vowed to retaliate against any military action.

Uzeir Dzhafarov, a prominent military expert in Azerbaijan, said clashes had recently intensified between the two sides.

"Azerbaijan has not had such losses since March 1994," he told AFP.

A security analyst in Armenia, Stepan Safaryan, for his part pointed out that the clashes came as international mediators tried to organise a meeting between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Safaryan suggested that the leadership of Azerbaijan had sought to wring concessions from Armenia in the run-up to the meeting.

"Through such an escalation Azerbaijan is blackmailing the international community and the Armenian side before the meeting," he told AFP.

The Karabakh peace talks are mediated by the so-called OSCE Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States.

5 комментариев:

I am so sorry this happened. The world is so unstable and violent these days and we should all be very much careful this violence does not spill over the South Caucasus, we should be careful with every word we say, with every gesture we use, with every movement we make, we - the people, and we - the governments, otherwise we all see what's happening in Ukraine and in Gaza. God save us from this!!

''There are many lessons to learn from the failures of twentieth-century diplomacy. International efforts to prevent war often did not succeed. The underlying causes of war were seldom addressed. If we wish the next hundred years to be more peaceful and less destructive, we should heed those failures and look for new approaches to building peace.'' http://www.peacedirect.org/keeping-lamps-alight?utm_source=Main+List&utm_campaign=2f132f255a-PD_blog_auto_update&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_72c3c9e100-2f132f255a-300743921

Hi, everybody. as I wrote in our 'Savaneti' I would love to write some more comments here too. I've seen Aynur, Sevik, Shoghik and Lilit commenting On FB on this very unpleasant incident that happened these days between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Then iIve seen a nice guy from Azerbaijan commenting also so positively. Then Lilit put a link on No Hate Speech campaign -this was so wonderful, it concluded your heated debate and that's what was important - yes, there is going to be always a debate around disputed territories, and conflict resolution is not such an easy business, but we all should try, that's why we are building coalitions, networks, building experts capacities, so that all these efforts go to the positive decisions and deeds. I am so happy to hear presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are meeting in Sochi on 8-9 August, this is a very important decision, there is no alternative to dialogue and peaceful negotiation, otherwise we all see what's happening in Gaza and East Ukraine, it never stops, it continues, people are killed, women and children killed and injured - it's easy to ignite a fire but to extinguish it becomes too difficult..

NIno Lagvialva: I understand your pain and your resentment, I myself have gone through all this several times but It's important we keep understanding and friendly relationship. This is our number one role and mission. We have to tell others to be indulgent and permissive. If our countries plunge into armed conflicts again then believe me no one will be winner, people will die, children and women will suffer, cities will be destroyed, we all will be destroyed. Ukraine is a clear example, I used to go there almost every year, happy people, cheerful, all the time dancing and partying, and what now, their peaceful demand to join EU (which is a far dream) had split the country into two parts and what is horrible, caused death of hundreds of innocent people, and who is to blame, those with particular interests or those with ideals on their minds? and who lost - the rest. Now no one can differentiate who is right and who is wrong, each side has its own truth, and its continuing, taking away lives of innocent people, and this euphoria takes over the young people and they go to the war enthusiastically and then, what then? they die happily? for what, for what reason? Cannot people of 21st century sit together and discuss openly and rationally what they want and what is best for their people and the country? only war and hard politics may help decided debatable issues, no alternative?? no alternative to death and killings??

Emin Jafarov I totally agree with u, Nino..Peaceful people are suffering because of someone others inattentive words and decisions..and that's very painful..to see, how people are suffering from all these in front of your eyes and we can't stop this..Yesterday at 00:53 · Unlike · 1

Nino Lagvilava Thanks, Lilit Pipoyan, this is an excellent idea - No Hate Speech campaign is what we all need now in order to keep patient and think of the future free from war and conflicts!!Yesterday at 13:48 · Like · 1

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YOUTH PEACE PLAN OF GEORGIA

This publication is produced within the framework of the project - ‘‘Support Democratic Participation of Young Women in Building Peace and Stability in Georgia’’ implemented in Georgia by International Network for Civil Development - INCD in partnership with Young Women Experts’ Network for Peace and Security (YWEPS) and with the financial support of the Embassy of Canada through Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).